Constantly Stamping

GDP348: Global Design Project CASE Challenge

We are CASEing Krista Frattin's adorable card this week at Global Design Project. Krista has a really great eye for design, and I love seeing her amazing stamping projects. This card is no exception. She really knows how to bring together all elements of color and layout. Krista has a gift for focusing on the details that put her projects over-the-top.

This is what I see when I step back and take an overview of Krista's card. Immediately I noticed the soft color pallet. I typically shy away from pastels, but the Smoky Slate and Pool Party are so beautiful together. I also adore the little heart, so I just had to use one in my design. There is also a lot of layering going on with her card, so I wanted to pull that into my design as well. Even with all of that, our cards look completely different. Isn't it wonderful how you can take inspiration from someone else's work and make it entirely your own!

For my card I started with a standard size top-folding card base made from Thick Basic White cardstock. Next, I embossed a slightly smaller piece of Smoky Slate cardstock using the Pretty Flowers Embossing Folder (#155428). Now, here is where the magic happens. I swiped a White Craft Stampin' Ink Pad (#147277) over the raised design for a look that takes your breath away. It's difficult to see, but I also dabbed some Shimmery White Embossing Paste lightly over parts of the card front for some added sparkle. Next, I cut two pieces of Metallic Mesh Ribbon to form the foundation for the focal point. I die cut two floral sprays from Thick Basic White cardstock using the Artistic Dies (#155371) and layered them to create a thicker foundation for the sentiment.

I stamped the greeting from the new Charming Sentiments stamp set (#159985) and then heat embossed it with Silver Metallic Embossing Powder. Then I used a label die from Painted Labels (#151605) to cut out the sentiment. I love the soft frame that is embossed into the edge of the label. Finally, I used a die from the Sentiment Silhouettes die set to cut a heart from Pool Party cardstock and I even used a little Wink of Stella (#141897) to add just a hint of shimmer to the heart.

This card has just the right amount of elegance, so I decided to stop right there and not add any gems or additional bling. Wouldn't this be perfect as a wedding card! Let me know what you think.

We would love to have you play along with us this week. Be sure to check out what the other talented designers/players have created for this challenge at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.

GDP327: Global Design Project Theme Challenge

Our theme this week at Global Design Project is plants and leaves. I didn't realize just how many of my favorite stamp sets retired until I tried to make this card. I had to reach way down into my bag of tricks to come up with an idea for this one.

My friend Cindy Schuster once told me that I am a "technique person" when it comes to cardmaking. I think she is spot on, because I really do love a good technique, and this card certainly supports that notion!

I actually started this card base several months ago, but it has just sat on my table waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. I began with a Crumb Cake card panel and used the Stitched Greenery Die to add the detailed pattern. Then I used several different colors of Stampin' Blends to color the leaves. I only used one of the two colors of each blend and then I added shading with similar colors of dry Watercolor Pencils. I would love to tell you what colors I used, but it has been so long ago, that I am not certain. If I had to guess I would say that the Blends are Light Smoky Slate, Dark Crumb Cake, Light Cajun Craze, Light Soft Suede and possibly Light Early Espresso. Also, the pencils over top of the ink changes the color, so it is difficult to say. The watercolor pencils used are Basic Gray, Early Espresso, and Cajun Craze.

I made the Early Espresso frame larger by piecing together two frames cut with the Painted Labels Dies (#151605). I hid the seam with the sentiment strip. The greeting is stamped in Early Espresso ink on Crumb Cake cardstock using a sentiment from the Nature's Harvest stamp set (#156813) and cut with the coordinating label from the Harvest Dies (#156504). The cone flowers are from the same set and stamped with Cajun Craze ink on Crumb Cake cardstock. Finally, I added two Brushed Brass Butterflies to direct the eye into the layout and complete the card.

We would love to have you play along with us this week. Be sure to check out what the other talented designers/players have created for this fun challenge at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.

 

 

GDP346: Global Design Project Sketch Challenge

I love a good sketch challenge and we have a great one this week at Global Design Project. I can't seem to get enough of the beautiful Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper (#158822). But instead of using the floral patterns, I found myself stamping on one of the background patterns. This particular design has a hand-painted look that moves throughout the color spectrum. I decided to incorporate the graduation of colors into the design of my card, and it ended up looking like this.

The stamp set I used is Cottage Rose (#159040) along with the coordinating Cottage Flowers Dies. For the background I used the new Distressed Gold Specialty Paper (#159237) and the coordinating Texture Chic DSP (#158808). To conserve paper, I also die cut the sentiment from the gold layer using the Amazing Thanks Dies (#157816).

We would love to have you play along with us this week. Be sure to check out what the other talented designers/players have created for this challenge at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.

Celebrating In Color Paper Pumpkin May 2022 Stepped-Up Card Alternatives

Have you seen the new 2022-2024 In Colors by Stampin' UP! I love that the May 2022 Paper Pumpkin Kit features these beautiful, vivid colors.

The cards in this kit are very well designed and you really don't need to do anything to them, but you know how much I love flowers, so I decided to see how they would look if I stepped them up with some designer series paper.

Some people like to alter their kits and see how many cards they can get by adding additional product. That really isn't what I am trying to do here. Instead, I just wanted to bump-up the existing card designs from the kit and take them to the next level by only adding a few additional products. In this case I mostly used DSP and one additional stamp pad, but on one card I added a Brushed Brass Butterfly and on another I used Stampin' Blends markers. (I also use a coordinating die set but that is completely optional.)

I have really been enjoying the new Hues of Happiness 12"x12" Designer Series Paper (#158822) featured on pages 108-109 in the new 2022-2023 Annual Catalog. A few weeks ago, I took some extra time to cut several of the flowers from this beautiful paper. Several of the flowers/leaves have coordinating dies in the Blossoming Happiness Die Set (#158823), so cutting them out was easy and doing it ahead of time made this project much faster.

Here is a closer look at each card and a few tips to help make the process easier. One big tip is to make sure you have good, clean cuts on all your pieces. Sometimes when you remove die cut kit items from their sheet, they get little snags on them. I like to use a craft knife and carefully cut away the design from the sheet. However, I don't care how much you try, you are going to miss a few places. For those, I either use my scissors to give them a trim or a Emory board to file them smooth. By taking your time on this important step, you will instantly give your cards a more professional look.

 

CARD ONE:

This card is very similar to the original design. I only added a few flowers and leaves and used a different sentiment stamped in Starry Sky ink. I love that the flowers have so many different colors and how they just pop on the beautiful Parakeet Party stripes. I also popped up the word "Happy" using the Mini Dimensionals from the kit. The Starry Sky dots from the kit work perfectly with this card.

Tip: To get perfect placement of the background stripes, use Press n' Seal. Remove the strips from the backer sheet, then put everything back together face down on the Press n' Seal. Put adhesive only on the strips, carefully remove the guide, and then place the strips onto the card base.

 

CARD TWO:

This card was really easy to do. The only thing I did differently to this card was stamp the sentiment in Starry Sky ink above the word "you" and add some flowers. The Sweet Sorbet dots from the kit look great with this design.

 

CARD THREE:

This is one of the most basic designs of the set. I chose not to remove the die cut circle from the background panel. Instead, I stamped the sentiment on the gold foil circle and added some die-cut yellow flowers. The Orchid Oasis dots from the kit look great on the matching background. I accidently stamped the sentiment a bit too far to the right, so I used a Brushed Brass Butterfly to balance it out. I think it looks amazing and it works perfectly with the gold foil on this card. I just love happy accidents!

 

CARD FOUR:

This card is probably my favorite. I aligned the straight edge of some of the flowers that were cut from the edge of the DSP with the gold banner frame on the left. I also loaded this one up with flowers. I didn't like the dark centers on the large flowers, so I covered them with smaller fussy cut flowers to give them more depth. I placed the word "Happy" on a angle and added a different sentiment below. The Tahitian Tide enamel dots look great with the banner.

 

CARD FIVE:

Finally, on this card I trimmed off about 1/4" from the top of the background panel and moved it up just bit to allow some of the white border to show on the bottom. (Tip: This card panel was slightly smaller than the card base, so I trimmed away a sliver of the white card base so that the edge didn't show.)

Here is my little confession... I somehow got a bit of ink on one of the letters of the pre-cut sentiment. To correct for my mistake, I used Melon Mambo Stampin' Blends markers to color the letters darker on the bottom and lighter on the top. You really don't need to color the letters, but don't they look great this way!

By this point, the only enamel dots left in the kit were the Parakeet Party ones, and they look great on this card.

 

PAPER PUMPKIN REFILL KITS

If you are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber and you need more of the kit supplies to make these cards, then you can order the May 2022 Paper Pumpkin Refill Kit (#160948) while supplies last. You can also order the additional items for these stepped-up designs from your Stampin' UP! demonstrator or from my store.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.